Random non-food moment, I am trying to boycott Amazon at the moment. It's monopoly and ethics don't sit well with me. I'm not one who thinks Bezos should be lynched for his money for the greater good, nor do I think taxing the company is particularly effective as they do have choices of jurisdictions and in the case of France, a smile and a "pass it on to the supplier" approach. Instead I'm just going to do my part by not buying from them. Probably not the greatest protest on earth since I'm cutting down on purchasing anyway (minimalism, where for art thou? Buried under two rooms of baking equipment that's where.)
Anyway, I still want books. My favourite place in the world is sitting in Waterstones Piccadilly with a pile of books. On a few occasions I have read them cover to cover over a number of weeks like using it as a public library. Much like the occasional homeless guy having a nap in a safe space. (I'd like to say one book was on minimalism - eschew all clutter, so I'm guessing the author didn't want me to buy the book, especially since he said he had one towel to both dry his one plate and his body.) I have of course, in the past, found books I liked and bought for cheaper on Amazon because, it was cheaper and I was young. But I do like to think I've bought a few hefty and beautiful tomes from them such as William Curley's Nostalgic Delights which definitely weren't cheap. If you're ever in London I do encourage you to visit. There's also a cocktail bar at the top, decent public toilets for the centre of town and several cafes in store. Don't order the chips, you don't get that many.
Continuing on my Amazon Boycott, these are a few online sources with free delivery that I'm delighted to say, were as cheap as Amazon for my newest purchase of Dominique Ansel. I can't guarantee they are any more ethical, but potentially spreading the money/not relying on Amazon may loosen the stranglehold enough for them to realise they need to behave better?
Blackwells - a Scottish company selling mainly at university campuses.
The Hive - seems to be an online collective of independent bookshops fighting back
I did originally look online for lists, potentially some were just more expensive for the books I wanted, but disturbingly the Independent listed something called the BookButler as a book price comparison site. The link now links to Amazon, which should probably tell you everything you need to know about how they have been allowed to dominate.
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